Reversible seat



(No Model.) I

J. A. S. SIMO'NSON.

Reversible Seat. No. 242,997. Patented June 14, I881.

Wizzzesses UNITED; STATES PATENT Ormcn.

JACOB A. S. SIMONSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

REVERSIBLE SEAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,997, dated June 14,1881.

Application filed April 14,1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB A. S.SLMONso1\', of Brooklyn, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Reversible Seats and Settees, of which the following isa specification.

My invention is applicable to seats or settees of various kinds-such,for example, as car-seats; but it is particularly adapted for church orSunday-school seats, which it is often desirable to reverse-as, forexample, to enable a teacher to face a class. The whole length of such aseat may be reversed or only a portion or section thereof.

The invention consists in 'the combination, in a reversible seat, of aframe and two similar parts hinged to opposite sides of said frame, andeach adapted to be turned down into an approximately horizontal positionto form a seat, or to be raised into an upright position to form a back.

It also consists in the combination, with such frameand two hingedparts, of links or bars connecting them at some distance from theirpivots, whereby they are made to move simultaneously in reversing, onepart being turned down to form a seat at the same time that the other isturned up or raised to form a back.

It also consists in the combination, in a settee, of a portionbetweenthe ends thereof composed of two hinged parts of the kind abovedescribed, so that said reversible portion may be made to face the sameway as the rest of the settee, or in the reverse direction.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective viewof asettee embodyin g myinvention and Figs. 2 and 3 represent transversesections of 'the reversible portion, representing it in its twopositions.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

The settee here shown is adapted for three persons only, and has itsframe composed of standards A, forming the legs and the arms, separatingthe different seats from one another, and longitudinal stretchers B.(Clearly shown in the drawings.)

The seat and back of the principal portion of the settee are formed oflongitudinal strips 0, in the usual way; but these strips are notcontinuous throughout the whole length of the settee. The seat and backof the central portion of the settee, between the two middle standards,are composed of twosimilar parts, D D, the former hinged at the front ofthe frame-in thisinstance to the two middle standards at a-and thelatter atthe back of the frame at a in a similar manner. The outer sidesof the two parts D D are of proper curvature to form a seat, and eitherof said parts may be turned down to form'a seat or turned up to form aback, they being equally adapted for either purpose.

In Figs. 1 and 2, I have represented the part D as forming the seat andthe part D the back; but in Fig. 3 the order is reversed, and the part Dforms the seat and the part D the back.

In order to cause the two hinged parts D D to move together inreversing, and also to aid in supporting the back, I have representedthe two said parts as connected at some distance from the hinges a a. bylinks or bars E, which are shorter than. the distance between the hingeson a, and therefore whenever either of the parts which form the seat israised or turned upward and outward the other part is turned downwardand inwardsimultaneously, and is thus made to form a seat. If when thusturned down ward and inward the part does not move fully down by reasonof its weight, it will be depressed to its fullest extent by the weightof a person sitting upon it, and the links or bars E form braces forsupporting the back.

Each part D D may be provided opposite to the hinged edge with athun1b-piece, b, for lifting it, and,it' necessary, the longitudinal.stretchers B could have rubber cushions provided for the partD or D tostrike against when depressed, thus lessening the noise.

Where my invention is embodied in a carseat the whole seat and backwould be composed of two reversible hinged portions.

The settee constructed with the reversible middle portion is verydesirable for Sundayschool purposes,as when in ordinary use the saidportion may be made to face in the same direction as the fixed seats, asinFig. 1, while during the Sunday-school session said portion may bereversed, so as to face in the opposite direction, thus en abliug theteacher to face the scholars.

If the several parts of the settee are detach ably connected, it isevident that the standards, the parts composing the backs and seats,

and the longitudinal stretchers may each be packed in very small spaceand shipped by 5 themselves.

If desirable, the entire settee, with the exception of the links or barsE, may be made of Wood.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to [O secure by Letters Patent,is

1. The combination, in a reversible seat, of a frame and two similarparts hinged to opposite sides of said frame, and each adapted to beturned down into an approximately hori- 15 zontal position to form aseat, or to be raised into an upright position to form a back,substantially as specified.

2. The combination, in a reversible seat, of

- seats, of a reversible middle portion having two similar parts hingedat opposite sides, and either of which is adapted to be turned down toform a seat or raised to form a back, and links or bars connecting saidparts at some distance from their hinges, substantially as specified.

J. A. S. SIMONSON. Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, A. O. WEBB.

